Monday, June 1, 2009

The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper company has been told by tax authorities it concealed about ¥100 million in income for seven years to March 2008, sources said Sunday.

The ¥100 million was included in a total of about ¥270 million that the Yomiuri failed to declare for the period. The rest was blamed on accounting mistakes.

The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau will impose a penalty of around ¥98 million, the sources said.

The Yomiuri's public relations department said the company will pay the full amount indicated by the tax bureau and make efforts to file more accurately in the future.

According to the company, costs that were reported as necessary for gathering news included wining and dining expenses for employees.

The tax bureau judged that these expenses did not qualify as deductions, the sources said.

The bureau also pointed out some accounting mistakes, including booking the amortization period of Yomiuri-owned aircraft as shorter than in reality.

In February, the Tokyo tax bureau told the Asahi Shimbun it concealed about ¥390 million in income.

Sundai also caught

Tax authorities have told the operator of Sundai prep schools, which help students get ready for university entrance exams, that it failed to declare ¥1.2 billion in taxable income over a five-year period through March 2008.

"There was a difference of opinion regarding the matter, but we have decided to comply with their policy and have filed a revised tax report" to the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau, a Sundai official who did not want to be named said Sunday.

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